Hi All,
Since I consider myself to have more than competent experience with fish aquariums (salt and fresh), and since my house plants have all thrived for years, i have decided to take the plunge and begin a planted tank project.
My experience has always been that the best advice comes from fellow hobbyists when beginning such ventures. So I am here with hat in hand to ask advice.
To begin, here is a list of my current/planned hardware:
have Std 75 gal tank.
Have a wet/dry for the above, but figured it might not be suitable for co2 injection. Is this a conceptual error on my part?
I have always liked using canister filters for ease of use. I like the hang on type especiallyb but I read that the surface agitation is detrimental to co2 solutuions. Why can't I use these and just extend the return tube deeper into the tank? I planned to use 2 hang on tank filters, 1 for polishing, the other for some inert media. Thoughts, please.
I found some compact fluor fixtures (4 x 65w) on ebay for about $125 shipped. I realize that these are not top brands we tend to recognize, but the brand names are EXPENSIVE. I figure I need at least 225 watts for this tank. Thoughts?
Heaters, planting media I think I have a handle on.
As mentioned, I will have a co2 system. But the choices for co2 reactors leave me a bit confused. I'd prefer not to use a canister type arrangement to reduce clutter. I have seen the ceramic disk & glass fixtures. I also found some sort of membrane chamber that seems really cool and most efficient of all the options, and it is quite reasonably priced. The simplest method I have seen mentioned to inject the co2 directly into the canister filter intake. This is right up my alley since I prefer the KISS method for my other plants and fish. But does this method really work well?

I'm looking forward to this whole thing and to any replies I get. Thank you all.